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CNET First Look

Samsung Gear 360 is ready to capture your world as long as you meet the requirements

The Gear 360 is certainly one of the best consumer 360 cams you can get, but to get the most from it out of the box, you'll need a Galaxy device and a Windows computer.

1:33 / 19 October 2016

Transcript

The Gear 360 camera is Samsung's perfect companion to it's gear VR headset.
Giving you a simple way to create your own immersive photos and videos.
And the quality's actually some of the best you'll find in the category.
Like Gear VR though, the camera's mobile app is only officially supported for use with the Galaxy S6 and S7, including Edge models And the Note 5.
You don't need one of these to use the camera.
In fact, you can get by just fine without it since you can change settings and modes with the little screen and its three buttons.
But without the app, you'll lose a big chunk of usability, like being able to see what you're shooting and download shots to your device to trim up and share to Facebook and YouTube.
To do more than that Samsung includes a version of CyberLink's 360 ActionDirector software, that gives you tools to combine clips, and add music effects and titles.
But it's Windows only.
For Mac users there are ways around it but that pretty much kills the simple part.
And, really, the fact that it is simple is the best part of the Gear 360.
Even its splash and water resistant body is somewhat done by its lenses, which can be replaced if they get scratched, if only Samsung sold replacements.
The camera isn't the easiest to hold without its little tripod, either, and the giant eye look of it does make it a little creepy.
Still, if you meet the requirements and have 350 dollars it's one of the better 360 options right now.

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